Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard on the Set of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ (1961)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, written by George Axelrod, adapted from Truman Capote’s 1958 novella of the same name, and starring Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a naïve, eccentric café society girl who falls in love with a struggling writer. It was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures on October 5, 1961, to critical and commercial success.

Some facts:

• Author Truman Capote envisioned Marilyn Monroe in the part of Holly Golightly. Marilyn was originally asked, but her drama coach, Lee Strasberg, told her that playing a call-girl was not good for her image. Shirley Maclaine and Kim Novak also turned down the role.
• Steve McQueen was offered the main role of Paul Varjak. However, he was still under contract for the show Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958), which prevented him from appearing.
• Although not visible on camera, hundreds of onlookers watched Audrey’s window-shopping scene at the beginning of the film. This made her nervous and caused her to keep making mistakes. It wasn’t until a crew member nearly got electrocuted behind the camera that she pulled herself together and finished the scene. Audrey also hated Danish pastries, which made filming the famous opening scene even worse.
• The movie was shot only three months after the birth of Audrey first son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer.
• Audrey said the scene where she throws Cat into the rainy street was the most distasteful thing she ever had to do on film.
• George Peppard was a student of Method acting, a style Audrey found difficult to work with. Nonetheless, the two actors remained close friends until her death in 1993.
• At a post-production meeting following a screening of the film, a studio executive, in reference to “Moon River,” said, “Well, I think the first thing we can do is get rid of that stupid song.” Audrey stood up at the table and said, “Over my dead body!”